John Lennon: A Matter of Pee

About Michael John Scott
Mr. Scott is a political junkie, and animal lover. He is also a U.S. Army veteran, career law enforcement executive and university professor. In addition he happens to own MadMikesAmerica which means he can write anything he wants, and often does.
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The letter, up for sale today. (Cooper Owen Auctions)

In a letter dubbed “A Matter of Pee” written to producer Phil Spector, an irritated John Lennon said that it was Who drummer Keith Moon—a hell-raiser with a thing for blowing up toilets and TVs—and singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson who urinated on a recording console at Capitol Records, a studio the three shared.

Described as “unseen” by the Telegraph, the letter dates to Lennon’s “Lost Weekend” phase, an 18-month period in which he dated his assistant May Pang (while married to Yoko Ono) and worked on 1975’s Rock ‘n’ Roll. It hits the auction block today, and includes such stellar quotes as “Should you not yet know, it was Harry and Keith who pissed on the console!” It’s expected to fetch between $6,600 and $9,900, reports Rolling Stone.

Lennon wrote that the studio apparently wanted to kick all three out over the incident, and continued, “I can’t be expected to mind adult rock stars nor can May, besides she works for me, not A+M! I’m about to piss off to [rival recording studio] Record Plant because of this crap!” The auction house owner notes the piece—written in red felt tip pen on lined paper—is “a rare note in that it mentions so many well-known figures from the era…” Record Plant was where Lennon was recording at the time of his 1980 death.

Other Lennon papers up for sale: several doodle drawings, including a self-portrait initialed by Lennon and signed by Yoko Ono on the back.

(In other dead rock star news: New photos from Kurt Cobain’s suicide scene have been released.)

2 Responses to John Lennon: A Matter of Pee

Yup. Those were the days. When I was teaching – yes it’s true, I was once trusted to mold young minds; scary isn’t it? – Anyway, I was talking to a group of students and I told them, “You think the ’90s were wild, you should have seen the ’70s.” Well, an old guy – there are still people older than I – overheard my conversation, walked right up to us and said, “…and you should have seen the 1930s!”